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Two North York businesses are at the centre of two of this summer's biggest news stories and they have dealt with their respective situations in very different ways.

On the night of Sunday, Aug. 10, explosions and fireballs rocked the Downsview area as the Sunrise Propane facility exploded. The blast forced the evacuation of more than 12,000 people. Toronto firefighter Bob Leek died of a heart attack while fighting the blaze and the body of an unidentified man, believed to be a Sunrise employee, was found at the source of the explosion in the Keele Street and Wilson Avenue area.

Throughout the subsequent investigations by various organizations, including the provinces Technical Standards and Safety Association (TSSA), Sunrise officials have been virtually silent.

Last week, the TSSA revoked the company's licence after it discovered that truck-to-truck propane transfers had previously taken place prior to the blast at the North York facility. Sunrise's only response has been a press release on Aug. 19. Company officials have not been available to answer questions.

Also, Sunrise refused to comply with a Ministry of Environment order to clean up the area around the blast site. The City of Toronto had to take over the cleanup at a cost that is expected to exceed $1 million.

Contrast this with the actions taken by Maple Leaf foods and its North York meat processing plant that has been linked to the listeria outbreak that has killed four people across Canada and sickened dozens of others.

Last week the company closed the Bartor Road plant for a complete cleaning and sanitization under the guidance of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The company voluntarily recalled numerous items that were suspected of being linked to the outbreak. A number of those links are now official, but Maple Leaf took the recall action before being ordered to do so.

For a complete list of the recalled items, visit our website at www.insidetoronto.com and follow the links.

Maple Leaf president Michael McCain has appeared on television ads talking about the outbreak, apologizing for what happened and offering sympathy to the victims' families. The company has also taken a number of full-page newspaper ads addressing the situation.

While none of this excuses the outbreak, it does show a fairly good level of corporate responsibility.

The reaction also shows that Maple Leaf is interested in continuing in business, not only across Canada but specifically at its North York facility.

Given the emotional, financial and political fallout from the propane blast, we're not sure if Sunrise is interested in or if it will even be allowed to continue operations in North York or anywhere else in Toronto for that matter.